Ryan Lochte sent a dozen roses to a high-school student who asked him to prom

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We could all use a story about a star athlete and a young woman who actually exists, right?

Danielle Jennette , a senior swimmer at King's Fork High School, started one of those Internet quests to get Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte to accompany her to prom. (Isn't prom usually at the end of the year? That's some advance planning.) She created a Twitter account, a Facebook page, posted a video to YouTube and started raising money for one of Lochte's favorite charities.

Her efforts received attention from local media, then were covered by a major swimming website. They eventually caught the eye of Lochte.

"Ryan has seen all your efforts and everything, and it hasn't gone unnoticed, and he definitely wants to send you something, but he's training six days a week for the next six months, so he won't be able to attend your prom."

At 5 p.m., Jennette had a dozen roses and a handwritten note from Lochte.

The move is pure Lochte: Kind, thoughtful, respectful of fans, smooth enough to appear cool, not nearly as smooth as he'd like to think and reminiscent of a guy who splashes on too much Acqua di Gio before hitting the clubs. Lochte seems like the kind of guy who buys girlfriends a box of heart-shaped chocolates and a life-sized teddy bear for Valentine's Day and thinks he's Don Juan.